Remembering Knox Central Coach Don Bingham

The Museum Corner was saddened this week to learn of the passing of Knox Central Panther great, Coach Don Bingham on Christmas Eve. Coach Bingham was a Panther basketball standout as a student and coach. We want to honor his talent and contributions in inking Knox Central into the 13 th Region, Cumberland College and Kentucky record books.

Donald Ray Bingham was born July 4, 1935, in the Dewitt community of Knox County, the first son of Ulys and Beatrice Bingham. He had an older sister Maxine and younger siblings Wilbur, Sharon, Darryl Dean, Gerald and Debbie. Another brother, John Boyd, was stillborn in 1942.

Don Bingham was a standout All State Honorable Mention basketball honoree at Knox Central, graduating in 1955. He played that year in the East-West All Star game in the state. Don went on to play freshman basketball at the University of Tennessee where he set the school record for points scored in a single game as a freshman (41). As a UT sophomore, he was named to the SEC All Sophomore team.

In 1957, Bingham was drafted during the Korean conflict into the United States Army and served in Europe for two years. He played basketball both years and set the Army record for points in a game with 69.

Bingham came back to play basketball at Cumberland College where he scored the first six points for the team in its very first game as a four-year institution. He lettered there in 1961 and 1962, leading the team in scoring both years. Bingham was granted tryouts with the Cincinnati Royals and St. Louis Hawks.

Bingham began his coaching career as an assistant at Knox Central serving under legendary coach Harold Cole. When Cole retired, Bingham stepped in as Central’s head coach during the 1965-1966 school year when Bingham was just 30 years old.

Don served as the Panther head coach for twelve seasons, from 1965 through the 1977 – 1978 season, winning ten district titles and two 13 th Region championships, one in 1966 when they defeated Middlesboro by five, Corbin by 11 and Clay County by 32 in the Regional championship game. They then won the first round in the Sweet 16 against great players Joe Billy Webb and Lawrence Curd and their Glasgow team, 88 – 80, when the stars for the Panthers were University of Kentucky signee Terry Mills and Fritz Nau. The 1966 team went 25 – 5 that season losing in the second round of the state tournament to eventual state champs Shelby County. Besides Mills and Nau, standouts on the team included Noble Potter, Harry Mays, Lynville Lee and Larry Spencer.

The other regional title came in 1970 when his team featured a 3 rd team All Star in Leroy Smallwood. In the Regional Tournament they defeated Brodhead by 23, Evarts by 36 and in the championship game, defeated Cumberland HS 62 – 55. In the Sweet 16, the Panthers met up with Pleasure Ridge Park out of Louisville’s 7 th region and its talented 1 st Team All state Junior Randy Waddell, falling 55-54 in the first round.

The 1970 team went undefeated in the regular season and only lost the first round Sweet 16 game to PRP. Besides Smallwood other team members included: Dennis Smith, Rod Messer, Earl Shupe, Clete Bledsoe and Coach Bingham’s brother Dean.

Coach Bingham told the Mountain Advocate’s David Cole in January of 1978 that he was retiring because of health concerns exacerbated by the tension and stress of coaching. He was 42 at the time of his retirement. He continued to teach at Knox Central until his retirement. Gerald Stacy, a former player of Bingham’s then serving as Bingham’s assistant, took over the helm as the Panthers head coach.

In fourteen years at the helm at Knox Central, Bingham won 270 games and lost 111, giving him a winning percentage of 71%. Bingham turned down two offers to become the head coach at Cumberland College. He also turned down an offer to become an assistant coach for the Kansas Jayhawks.

The gymnasium at Knox Central was renamed the Coach Don Bingham Physical Education Gymnasium in his honor in 1999. Bingham was inducted into the Cumberland College Athletic Hall of Fame in 2002. His high school jersey was retired at Knox Central in 2009. Bingham was elected to the inaugural 13 th Region Hall of Fame as a coach in 2019.

Coach Bingham was married to the former Mary Ann Cornett, also a Health and Physical Education teacher at Knox Central. Together, they had two daughters, Lisa Ann and Donna Lynn.

The Binghams moved to be closer to their daughters in Alabama after their retirement. Mary Ann passed away in 2012. They will be buried together in the Barbourville Cemetery. Funeral arrangements for Coach Bingham are pending as of the writing of this article.

The Museum Corner would like to express our thanks to the Mountain Sports Hall of Fame for most of the statistics for this article. We would also like to express our gratitude for the Mountain Advocate’s 1978 article, written by David Cole, upon Coach Bingham announcing his retirement from coaching.

A forever thanks to Coach Don Bingham for all of the exciting basketball memories during the late sixties and all of the 1970s. Our deepest sympathies to Coach Bingham’s entire family.